The sense of sight is utterly compelling to those human beings who possess it. The adage that a picture is worth a thousand words resonates with an appreciation of the profound importance of taking in visual information. The sense of sight is unique in allowing us to absorb so much information from our world so quickly. It is natural then that advertisers, entertainers, artists, and others all want to engage people with their own visual content for the purpose creating a desired response in their intended audience. A large scale visual display system is a particularly compelling way for people to experience the presentation of visual information and such systems are the focus of the present disclosure.
There are numerous features of a visual display system that contribute to its impact upon viewers including: size, brightness, contrast, color saturation, color depth, display refresh rate, resolution, pixel pitch, pixel pitch uniformity, and others.
There are numerous other features of a visual display system that are of interest to the owners and operators of such systems including: ease of installation, ease of service, reliability, ease of configuration, ease of maintenance, ease of operation, cost of the system, cost of installation, cost of operation, cost of service, and others.
Display systems having display planes configured into unusual shapes may be used to catch the interest of those persons within viewing distance. Unusual shapes may be created in two dimensions, providing a flat viewing plane that has an unconventional perimeter shape such as a circle, ellipse, etc. In addition, unusual shapes may be created in three dimensions such that a surface may be configured to present a viewing plane that sweeps through three dimensional space. As an example of a three dimensional viewing plane, consider the surface of a cylinder. A viewing plane that is coincident with at least a portion of the outside surface of a cylinder can be said to have a three dimensional viewing plane. An annular structure may also be used to create a three dimensional viewing plane. A surface that is formed on the inner surface of an annular structure can be used to form a concave three dimensional viewing plane. In similar manner, a surface that is formed on the outer surface of an annular structure can be used to form a convex three dimensional viewing plane.
Display systems in which the screen has an eye catching two or three dimensional structure present a number of difficult problems that are in need of solution. A typical mounting environment for a large display is on the outside structure of an existing building. Buildings are often situated so that the walls of the building are close to one or more real estate property boundaries. Installing a display system onto the outside of a building that is already constructed runs the risk of straying into the air rights of an adjacent real estate parcel because of the added thickness of the display system. If the display system is too thick the owner of the system may be forced to either remove the system or obtain the air rights in the adjacent real estate lot at added expense.
Another difficult problem in need of solution relates to the mounting of a large display on non-planar structural features of a building. Particularly challenging non-planar structural features found on buildings are support columns and support beams. Typical support columns and beams have circular or rectangular cross sections and bear high structural loads. Any physical penetration of a support column or beam into the cross section of that structural feature carries with it the risk of compromising the structural integrity and load bearing capacity of the support structure. Displays that are mounted to one or more support columns or beams must be mounted in such a way as to reduce or eliminate penetration of the load bearing portion of that structural feature.
Yet another difficult problem in need of solution is that the outer envelop of most load bearing structures is neither designed nor constructed to provide a smooth, even mounting surface, having no discontinuities. What is needed is a mounting system that is able to accommodate or otherwise smooth out the unevenness of the underlying structure so that the viewing plane of the large display shows no discontinuities and no unevenness.
In consideration of the foregoing points, it is clear that embodiments of the present disclosure confer numerous advantages and are therefore highly desirable.